


Handle Me With Care

by Ithinkwehaveanemergency



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Truth Spells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 14:37:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13460334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithinkwehaveanemergency/pseuds/Ithinkwehaveanemergency
Summary: Liam picks up a recently warlock-assaulted Theo, and Wednesday night at the Geyer house continues on pretty normal from there...Except for Theo's newfound inability to lie.A fic that started crackish, then ended up slightly angsty and fluffy.  I need to learn to control my fics.





	Handle Me With Care

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the Traveling Wilburys song, Handle With Care.
> 
> Amazing song. Highly suggest listening to it.

"You're late." Theo growled, walking up to his truck.

Liam shut the door to the driver's side with a frown and stared wide-eyed at the twenty-year-old chimera, who was covered in what looked like ash, but smelled more like lavender. Theo's face and hair were mostly black with the soot-like substance. His black collared shirt was rumpled and coated with the same substance, which contained streaks of ash-y purple and white.

"The fuck happened to you?" Liam wrinkled his nose at the pungent aroma.

Liam had taken Theo's truck to work, as he did every Tuesday through Thursday, and was supposed to pick Theo up from work at 8:00 PM. Instead, he received several group texts between Theo and Scott, and was instructed to meet him on the border of the preserve at five after eight.

Theo had been taking out the trash at the clinic when he caught the scent of the warlock they'd been hunting for the past week.

The warlock hadn't hurt anyone. He seemed to be more obnoxious than anything else. The pack's initial contact with him was when he came to Beacon Hills Community College, stopped Liam, and demanded an audience with Dr. Deaton regarding the crimes of his family.

Liam had rolled his eyes at the pompous, overdressed young man and explained that the shifty veterinarian was MIA, and they had better things to do than track him down, like keep his business running.

"I shut down the clinic early and went after him, like Scott said I should." Theo grunted, walking toward Liam, muttering obscenities about his crooked-jawed boss, also known as Beacon Hill's resident alpha. "What Scott didnt seem to realize, is that the plan was essentially pointless, given the fact that warlocks can teleport. And when they do, they explode in a glittery cloud of this shit."

"Theo, what're you doing?" Liam watched his barely-identifiable friend approach the the passenger side of the truck.

"Getting in the car so you can drive us home and I can get this shit off me." Theo growled again, patience waning.

"You want me to drive? Don't you hate when I drive?" Liam furrowed his brow with doubt at Theo's angry state. "You always yell at me the whole time."

"Yes, I want you to drive, and no, I don't hate it when you drive. _Actually_ , it kind of makes my insides feel all warm and tingly, and usually really turns me on. That's why I yell at you for the smallest things, cause if I didn't I'd probably get a boner just watching you shift gears." Theo sighed tiredly, then his eyes opened wide in shock, as if realizing what he just said.

"Ha. Yeah, sure." Liam scoffed. He wasn't facing Theo anymore, and he failed to see the look of horror the other man was wearing. "If you're too hurt to drive, you can just say so, you big baby."

Liam climbed into the truck, still laughing as a dazed Theo did the same.

  
*****

  
Theo walked out of bathroom, lavender scented steam wafting out behind him. He moved sluggishly into the kitchen, the contrasting smell of dinner drawing him closer to the front of the Geyer residence.

"Liam that smells ridiculously good, what is it?" Theo approached the stove in his sweatpants, chest and hair still damp from the shower. He walked up beside the werewolf where he was frying some type of tiny eggrolls.

"Its lumpia." Liam laughed as Theo bent into his space to smell the food, gasping and shoving him to the side when he realized his semi-permanent house guest was shirtless. "Theo! Go put a shirt on, you'll get boiling oil splatter on you!"

"So?  I would heal instantly." Theo argued, going to grab one of the small rollups that Liam had just fished out of the fryer. Liam simply hip-checked him away gently, poking at his hand with hot tongs, burning Theo slightly. "Oh so it's cool if you burn me, but not if I burn myself? Rude."

"I'm just trying to teach you patience and etiquette, dude." Liam teased. "You're never gonna impress a girl if you don't have good kitchen manners."

"I don't need to impress a girl, I'm gay." Theo spoke calmly, reaching out for a lumpia once more. He met no inference this time, as Liam stared at him, eyes wide.

"Oh. A guy then?" Liam whispered, turning back to his frying with a mildly hurt expression.

"I... I don't know why I said that, but yeah, I am? I'm..." Theo took a bite of the pilfered food, stopping himself from trying to explain the truth he'd kept quiet from Liam and almost everyone else in Beacon Hills, for that matter. He moaned suddenly around the bite of burning hot food. "This is like... without a doubt... the most delicious fried food on the planet.  You're amazing."

Liam blushed at the praise.

"Get some waters. I'll bring these in the family room and we can eat while watching the new episode of Good Doctor." Liam smiled weakly at Theo as he passed behind him to do as asked. The chimera seemed blissful, grinning about the prospect of their regular Wednesday night tradition. Theo's excitement restored some of Liam's as well. "So, you know how my uncle is Filipino, right? Well, I know you don't really like chicken and pork, beef, so I asked mom to pick up some of these shrimp things cause I remembered how fucking good they were when I was a kid.  We rarely make them, but they're the doctor's favorite too."

Theo froze where he was grabbing glasses from the cupboard, touched by the thought that Liam put into making him food he'd like. He looked over at Liam, who just kept cooking happily.

"Oh, Scott called back." Liam went on. "I explained how weak you felt after whatever that ash was got all over you. He says to just rest and get your strength back up. He says its probably magic residue.  The best way to shake that is to relax and hopefully you'll get your groove back, Stella."

Theo arched an eyebrow in question.

"I dunno." Liam shrugged. "Go terrorize bunnies in your shifted form, go out dancing, or hang out with your friends from night class.  Just do whatever makes you happiest."

"Okay. Well that's already what we're doing. I'm always happiest at Wednesday night dinners." Theo gagged a bit, as if trying to hold back the words. He made a panicked face, this time right in Liam's line of sight. They stared at eachother for a minute before Theo returned to his task.  Liam stared for a moment longer.

"So, hey, I'm not like mad or anything, but..." Liam hesitated, turning off the stove and facing the still wide-eyed Theo, who was pointedly looking anywhere but at him. "You're aware what a strange time to come out to me that was, right? Why didn't you ever tell me before?"

"I didn't think it mattered." Theo replied easily, now very confused at his sudden need to word vomit about everything. "I mean, it's not like you ever told me you were bi, or whatever."

"What, how did you know?" Liam matched Theo's look of confusion.

"Back when I first moved in with you, there were a few times that you came home after Lacrosse practice and you absolutely reeked of Nolan's jizz." Theo's hand came up to physically cover his own mouth after that one. He groaned through his hand. _"Oh my god."_

Liam turned bright red and his mouth hung open wordlessly.

"Well." Jenna entered the room and frowned at both freeloading adult tenants of her home. "That's something I could have gone forever without hearing.  And the Holloway kid, really, baby?  Wasn't he like fourteen back then?  And Theo, what is your aversion to shirts?"

"I'm so sorry, Jenna, I think somethings wrong with me, and I hate shirts because I don't like not showing off how **ridiculously** defined my abs are." Theo pled his case at Liam's mom, face twisting desperately between emotions as Liam muttered ' _It was only a few times, and h_ _e was a year below me, Jesus Christ, mom_." She arched an eyebrow, trying to hide her amusement at both how bright her son's face had gone and the blatant overshare from his best friend.

"Does this have to do with the witch-guy that made you track weird Lavender dust into my foyer?" Jenna sighed in exasperation, looking mournfully over her shoulder toward the front door. "I can bleach the carpet, but I can't bleach my brain from unhearing what you said."

"Oh my god, it must be that!" Liam croaked out, slowing losing the angry blush from his cheeks. "Maybe it's like a truth spell?"

"Well, that's not obvious or contrived or anything." Jenna rolled her eyes, picking up one of the waters Theo had filled and taking a sip. Her eyes went wide with joy suddenly. "I got it! I know how to prove if he's being forced to admit things he never would."

"No, no, no, I don't like this idea." Theo protested sharply, but Jenna cut him off.

"Okay. Theo, try as hard as you can to lie about this: What song did I find you singing and dancing to while doing your laundry about a year ago." Jenna grinned gleefully, not feeling the tiniest bit guilty about sharing this information.

"Body Language by Jesse McCartney." Theo spit out, gagging and coughing a little in the beginning, as if trying to keep the words in. Liam barked out a laugh, all his own embarrassment gone. Theo stared at Jenna, aghast. "You **betrayed** me!"

"Oh my god, it's definitely a truth spell." Jenna laughed bodily. "He did my yardwork for a month just so I wouldn't tell you and your father."

"That's extortion, mother." Liam smiled at her, impressed.

"He's a reformed criminal, who lives in my home for free. It's fine, I feel zero qualms about it." Jenna shrugged, walking over to place a kiss on Theo's cheek before moving to help Liam plate dinners.

Theo inhaled deeply, losing his patience with the now cackling mother and son pair.

"Call Scott back." Theo growled, turning his back on them and walking into the family room. "I'm starting the show without you guys."

  
*****

  
Theo, true to his word, started the newest episode of Good Doctor before they entered the room.

Just barely.

When Liam and his mother walked in to join him, he simply exaggerated his pouting and started watching the screen intently.

"I texted Scott." Liam held out a plate of food in a peace offering. "He and Corey are gonna go hunting for the warlock now."

Theo took it and nodded in thanks, pout never leaving his face.

"This is great, Liam." Jenna hummed, crunching into another piece of lumpia. "You should cook for us all the time, I can retire from cooking and let you boys just take care of me as I approach old-ladydom. Theo doesn't have to, if he doesn't want to."

"I want to. I like cooking for you guys." Theo spoke through a mouthful of food. "It makes me feel like I'm part of the family, and no matter how much I wish I could be in the future, in a different way, I know that this is more than enough."

Jenna and Liam stared at Theo as he stopped chewing and swallowed nervously. He looked down at his plate and put in on the coffee table in front of him, suddenly not hungry anymore.

"Sweetheart." Jenna got up from the recliner she was stretched out on and put her plate next to his. She joined the boys on the couch, throwing an arm around Theo's hunched-in shoulders. "You know as much as I joke around with you, you're family, and you always will be, right?"

"No, I know I'll end up fucking up sooner or later, and you'll disown me just like my family did." Theo muttered, limply letting himself be pulled into a side hug as the small woman protested and petted his hair in a very motherly way. Theo whined pitifully. "I hate this. Can we please stop talking? It's not fair."

"Yeah, okay. No more questions." Liam squeezed his knee comfortingly, but Theo couldn't bring himself to look up, still embarrassed by his candor. "Its okay, bub, Scott's hunting that douchebag down. We'll fix you in no time."

The three settled in a bit closer than they usually would on Wednesday nights, and when Dr. Geyer came home an hour and a half later to the three of them squeezed together on the oversized couch watching reruns of Family Guy, he simply squeezed in next to his wife, happily picking at their cold leftover lumpia.

  
*****

  
Theo looked like hell when he walked into the kitchen late the next morning.

"Coffee, son?" Dr. Geyer reached for a mug, already knowing Theo's answer. "Sorry, sorry, I was told no questions."

"Yes, please. Its fine." Theo yawned, sitting down at the kitchen island, accepting the hot, delicious, mug of black coffee. "I think that kind of question is safe."

"Just not questions having to do with feelings or private matters, huh?" The older man chuckled to himself. "Man, I can't imagine how awful that must be. Lying is a bad habit, but there's probably plenty of stuff you'd like to keep to yourself."

"Yeah." Theo nodded slowly, taking a small sip of his coffee. "I've always been a great liar, but I guess it's more accurate to say I'm  not really good at telling the truth.  Because... Well, to be honest, which I can't really avoid right now, I'm scared _shitless_ of saying anything in front of Liam."

"Oh, yeah, that's a dangerous one." Dr. Geyer went to leave the room, most likely to go get ready for work. He stopped and squeezed Theo's shoulder as he went. “I can see how telling someone you love them for the first time while under a spell isn’t ideal.”

Theo coughed and sputtered as the man walked away, but this time it had nothing to do with the spell.

  
*****

  
"Theo." Liam knocked on the door to Theo's room. He received a growl in response. "C'mon, Theo, it's fine. Scott said you should be better by now."

"I know, I am." Theo sounded like he was shouting into a pillow. "But I cant erase what I said, so I'm staying in here until I die."

"Don't be dramatic, you didn't even say anything that bad." Liam scoffed. He knocked again. "Theo, please open the door. I want to talk to you now that you can... y'know, control yourself?"

Scott had given Theo the day off, asking Corey to cover for him at the clinic. It wouldn't do anyone any good to have Theo tell Mrs. Haskell that her Shih Tzu was the ugliest dog any of them had ever seen, and they've been blatantly lying to her for the past year.

Sometime in the afternoon, the Alpha had finally found the Warlock. In order to work out a truce, Scott had made a deal with the young, magical man. He had been quite enchanted by Scott, instantly agreeing to lift the spell if the alpha would go on a date with him. Scott had agreed, reasoning that he didn't seem too evil, and kind of resembled that cute Asian-American actor from all those dance movies Scott adored.

Theo couldn't really disagree with Scott's reasoning, but he found a denial slip out of his mouth nonetheless, followed by a cry of triumph at the lie and a promise that he would pay Scott back for this one day.

"Theo?" Liam's voice persisted. " _Please_?"

Liam heard the door unlock, followed by the shuffle of Theo jumping back onto the bed and under the covers.

The werewolf let himself into the spare bedroom, which Theo had lived in for the better part of two years. He looked around and observed the completely blank walls, the bookshelf full of old books, the two large baskets of folded laundry, the untouched  dresser and closet with only a handful of pressed shirts hanging.

Liam frowned. He'd never noticed how not moved-in the chimera was, as the two always hung out in his room or some other part of the house.  It was as if Theo still expected he'd need to leave in a hurry.  Liam moved toward the laundry baskets, checking to see if the were both full of clean laundry, before picking up some of the shirts and starting to put them away in the dresser.

"What do you waaant, Liam? What are you doing to my stuff?" Theo groaned from under the covers, shifting around until Liam was positive he'd curled into a tiny ball somewhere underneath the large comforter. Liam smirked over his shoulder at the unabashed petulance of his friend, something that only he and his family, their family, got to see.

"I'm putting it away. Where it belongs." Liam answered, turning back around. He continued sorting, finding folded work slacks and scoffing at the crease above the knee that had formed from being left folded. He put them aside with a mental note to iron them later.

"If you wanted to get your hands on my underwear, you _perv_ , all you had to do was ask and I would've given you the ones I have on." Theo's muffled voice teased from the middle of the bed.

"Yeah? And if I had asked yesterday?" Liam spoke calmly, evenly. "Would I have still gotten that same sarcastic barb? Or would you have told me the truth, like you did about the driving-your-car thing."

The sheets ruffled and he could hear Theo scrambling gracelessly out of bed as Liam stopped sorting through and putting away clothes and braced himself against dresser, willing himself not the dig his claws into the wood.

"Don't fucking run away from me, Theo." Liam seethed from between clenched teeth.

Theo's body thumped against the ground, and then there was silence, the chimera clearly at a loss for what to do as he lay on the carpet, partially tangled in the sheets from the bed.

"I felt so stupid, y'know?" Liam pushed off the dresser and went back to putting Theo's clean laundry away. "I'm driving to class, and it hits me. What you said, y'know, the part about me driving, and then throughout the night."

Theo didn't move, or speak, and Liam wasn't sure he was breathing.

"Like, you meant that you like it, a lot, when I drive your truck." Liam sighed. "And you meant it when you said that spending time with my family was what you enjoyed the most, and when you wanted to be a real part of the family some day, in a different way... I mean, **_what the fuck,_ ** Theo?  Is that what I _think_ it means?"

Finally, there was rustling behind Liam and angry grunting as Theo brought himself to his feet, huffing indignantly.

" _What_ , Liam?" Theo cried out, angrily. "You want to make fun of me because of what I want, when I know its ridiculous to even _dream_ of it?"

"No, Theo." Liam threw bundle after bundle of socks into the top drawer before shutting it with enough force to crack the wood. "I want you to be honest with someone, for fucking _**once**_ , about what you really want."

"What I want doesn't matter, Liam.  I doesn't matter, because I will always do what's best for you." Theo sat down on the bed right behind Liam.

Liam spun around and stared disbelieving at the older man.

"You're not my fucking **_keeper_**." Liam laughed high pitched and lacking any trace of mirth. "I am not a seventeen-year-old who can't keep his claws in and you have to knock out a few times to calm down."

"Li-"

"It's been almost two years, **_two years_** that I've spent resigned to the fact that youll never feel the same way that I do, by the way, and I think I can make my own fucking decisions." Liam's voice climbed higher with incredulity.

"Liam, I didn't-"

"If you had feelings for me, if you wanted to be with me, don't you think it should've been my decision whether or not I should return those feelings or not?" Liam yelled, voice hoarse with frustration. "'Cause I did, Theo! I always did, and I thought you knew that, and were just being polite because you didn't like me like that, or you were straight! Jesus, you could have at least told me you were gay!"

"Liam, _I swear_ , I never thought you'd ever think of me that way." Theo spoke softly.

"Of course I did, you jackass!" Liam sqwauked, disbelief evident in his tone. "I know that you're dense, but I spend all of my time loving you, being there for you, keeping you at my side, because I can't bear a single day without you, even if it's just as my best friend."

"Liam." Theo choked on his words, taking a couple steps closer to the extremely upset werewolf who no longer had the distraction of sorting through his laundry. "Liam, you shouldn't want to be with someone like me."

" _God_! Theo, I know you're fucked up. I know that's not something you just get over, cause I'm still pretty fucked up from life too." Liam ran a hand through his hair and scowled at the man he wanted to desperately wanted to get through to. "But how am I supposed to... how do we do this if you can't even handle a serious question without asking a stupid question back, or lashing out with sarcasm, or some other ridiculous defense mechanism."

Theo looked scared as Liam searched his eyes for an answer. The chimera squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath.

"You're right. You deserve the truth, Liam.  You deserve anything you ask for.  So, ask me anything you want, right now. Whenever you want, from now on, and I will answer honestly, I promise." Theo scowled down at his own trembling hands. He took another deep breath and looked up at Liam, eyes red and wet. "Anything."

Liam walked forward until he was standing with one leg between Theo's knees. He carded a hand through the older man's hair, trying not to sob with relief when Theo leaned into it.

"Okay." Liam whispered, looking down at the nervous man and moving a hand to rest tentatively on the warm skin of his broad, bare shoulder. "Do you want me to touch you?"

"Yes." Theo breathed out without hesitation.

"Good." Liam crowded closer, guiding Theo with the hand on his shoulder to sit back further away from the edge of the bed. Liam raised his knee to help himself into the bed until he was straddling Theo. "Do you want to touch me, too?"

"Yeah." Theo exhaled around his response once more, hands coming up to grip Liam's hips as the younger man settled into his lap.

"Thank God." Liam laughed into the skin of Theo's jaw, dragging blunt teeth along the hinge before pulling away to grab Theo's chin and force their eyes to meet. "Do you want to kiss me?"

"I've probably wanted to kiss you since the day I saw you." Theo panted into Liam's open mouth, just centimeters from his own.

"Do you want to be with me?" Liam begged, wrapping his arms around Theo's neck, waiting for an answer.  In the same moment that Theo nodded, he closed the gap between their lips.  Liam smiled into the kiss, falling willingly onto the bed, sharing the chimera's gasping breaths.

  
*****

  
Theo flicked off the light before rushing back into the arms of his best friend, musing to himself that he probably needed a new label for what the young werewolf was to him.

"Hey, Li?" Theo prompted, smiling as Liam spooned him once more and pressed soft kisses to his shoulder blade. Liam grunted in acknowledgement, continuing his focused path of kisses. "Since we established all the things I want, I think you should tell me what it is that you want most."

Theo felt Liam smile into his skin, and the shorter man squeezed him tighter.

"I want to take care of you, Theo." Liam whispered into the nape of his neck. "I want to take care of you, _for once_ , and I want you to _let me_."

Theo didn't say anything, he simply threaded his fingers through Liam's own, where the werewolf held him close by the waist. Liam heard the chimera's heartbeat and breathing slow. He body relaxed and Liam reveled in the amount of trust the man was showing by falling asleep in Liam's arms.

"Thank you for being honest with me, bub." Liam muttered into the warm skin beneath his lips, before following Theo into a contented sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I am sooo sorry about the lack of editing and the strange awkwardness of this entire thing. I just had to get it out of my system. Thanks for understand. Or not. Haha.


End file.
